‘Internet of things’ to generate US$613bn worth of global profits this year

The “internet of things” or the “internet of everything” – that’s billions of connected phones and sensors, folks – is tipped by Cisco to generate US$613bn worth of global profits in 2013 alone. And who’ll get these profits? “Firms that optimise the connections among people, process, data and things will generate the largest profits.” OK, that’s pretty much telcos, data centres and internet firms like Facebook and Google.

According to the study of 7,500 business and IT leaders in 12 countries, businesses in the US, China and Germany are going to get the largest chunk of this wealth.

According to the Internet of Everything Value Index by Cisco, businesses in the internet economy can pursue as much as US$14.4trn over the next decade.

And not only that, an extra US$544bn could be generated in 2013 alone if companies leveraged the internet of everything to improve operations and customer service.

“The internet of everything has the potential to significantly reshape our economy and transform key industries,” said Rob Lloyd, Cisco president of Development and Sales.

“The question is, who will come out on top and win in this new economy?

“This study shows us that success won’t be based on geography or company size, but who can adapt fastest.”

Some other takeaways from the Cisco report:

69pc of business leaders think the global job market will stay the same or improve, thanks to the internet of everything

89pc believe wages will improve or stay the same.

Among industries, services (US$158.8bn) and manufacturing (US$103.1bn) are expected to realise the greatest value from the internet of things